Line #28 Main/RedemptionPromotion


1	->''"It's kind of funny, but I was just thinking that the only time Jessie and James were on the winning side is when they sided with us..."''
2	-->-- '''Tracey''', ''Anime/PokemonTheOriginalSeries''
3
4	When a long-running series has a HarmlessVillain who can't go two steps without screwing up their EvilPlan, this villain may occasionally have a change of heart. They might be zapped by some strange device, be tired of [[MistreatmentInducedBetrayal other bad guys regarding him as a joke]], or simply be tired of losing. In any case, he might [[HeelFaceTurn turn good]], or otherwise [[EnemyMine join the heroes]]. Upon doing this, a revelation will be made: when fighting for the side of good, suddenly the idiot who couldn't even get a clear-cut plan together is [[CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass taking care of business left and right!]]
5
6	In short, the villain is much more effective as a hero than a villain. In which case, one of three things can happen:
7	# If StatusQuoIsGod, then some occurrence will cause the villain to [[ChronicVillainy turn evil again]], but not before both the hero and the villain gain some new insight into each other.
8	# Rarely, the villain will stay good, and throw off his VillainBall shackles (or keep them, depending on how much comedy factors into things), possibly becoming a SixthRanger.[[note]]Odds of this increase near the beginning of a series, when the status quo is still being established, and near the end of a series, when the status quo no longer needs to be maintained.[[/note]]
9	# The villain will die, be PutOnABus, or otherwise leave the story. This could be because the executives/writers, etc. don't want to use the character anymore, don't believe that the fanbase will accept them as a hero, or because they believed RedemptionEqualsDeath will serve the narrative better.
10
11	In any case, such storylines always add flair to the characters on the show, because now you know that, even though they continue to [[CardCarryingVillain say they're evil time and time again]], you know that there's a good guy in there somewhere (cue [[PetTheDog "awwwww..."]]), much to his/her chagrin, though they probably [[GoodFeelsGood secretly enjoyed it]]. Can crossover with WhosLaughingNow and TheDogBitesBack if the villain in question is an over-abused henchman who fights against his former master.
12
13	Villains that were already powerful and effective in their villainy will generally get a RedemptionDemotion instead to keep the JustForFun/SuperWeight scale balanced.
14
15	Curiously this rarely overlaps with TokenEvilTeammate; if the character commits something evil after their HeelFaceTurn, it is usually taken as a sign that maybe heroing wasn't meant for them after all.
16
17	Note that this page will often spoil a HeelFaceTurn.
18	----
19	!!Examples:
20
21	[[foldercontrol]]
22
23	[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
24	* ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'': The [[TerribleTrio Team Rocket trio]] is one of the [[GoldfishPoopGang quintessential inept villain teams]], but they've often tried to help out the hero on occasions, in which case their skills go way up. This often showcases that being on the side of good is probably the best thing for them but for some reason, they [[CardCarryingVillain insist on causing trouble anyway]].
25	** If you look at their pre-anime timeline flashback episodes, Jessie and James are pretty serious. Even when they became goofier/more open toward each other and friendlier toward each other, they were good criminals. Though, soon after they met Ash... they became the "lovable losers" that they are today.
26	** In fact, during the episode where James visits his summer home (courtesy of his still filthy rich parents), he fights on the side of good for the Pokemon in the nearby Greenhouse, which Jessie and Meowth were trying to steal. Even the heroes are taken aback by how powerful his Cacnea's Sandstorm seems all of a sudden - and this is also true for the old episode where he became the "Flaming Moltres", whipping Butch, Cassidy, AND Ash until his horoscope got rained on. If James were a good guy through and through, he'd make for one of the most powerful Trainers in the anime.
27	** Meowth is usually portrayed as a pitiful battler, rarely even getting in a hit against Ash's Pokémon before getting knocked down. Yet, when he fights on their side, or even just for noble causes such as protecting a loved one, he is undefeatable. He decimated a large amount of Team Plasma's forces all by himself with just Fury Swipes. This was to ''rescue'' Pikachu rather than capture him.
28	*** It's one of the better and more subtle [[AnAesop Aesops]] of the series that ''all'' the members of the trio are far more successful when they do things the honest way. When reduced to selling things or reporting at League Tournaments and the like, they are extremely successful business people. When he competes fairly, James often rivals and even beats the twerps at various Pokémon events. Meowth is revealed to be an accomplished noodle chef, pilot, and negotiator at times. And in Sinnoh, Jessie [[spoiler:actually makes it to the semi-finals of the Ribbon Cup]] once she stops cheating and relying on gimmicks. They aren't failures who happen to be evil, they fail ''[[EvilWillFail because]]'' they do things the bad way.
29	** Double subverted starting in ''[[Anime/PokemonTheSeriesBlackAndWhite Best Wishes]]''. They are very competent, goal-minded, and NEVER ONCE "blasted off" since then... Though, as of ''Anime/PokemonTheSeriesXY'', they've [[StatusQuoIsGod returned to their bumbling, only-competent-when-doing-good selves.]]
30	* Grandis, Hanson, and Sanson from the ''Anime/NadiaTheSecretOfBlueWater'' started out as a [[GoldFishPoopGang highly]] [[IneffectualSympatheticVillain inept]] TerribleTrio who always lost to Nadia. Yet after making a permanent HeelFaceTurn, their powers and skills proved to be extremely essential. Hanson was able to shine as a GadgeteerGenius, even smarter than the KidHero protagonist in that area, Sanson's [[CharlesAtlasSuperPower super strength]] saved the gang dozens of times, and Grandis showed herself as a capable leader
31	* Viral in ''Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann'' is a quintessential example. Prior to his HeelFaceTurn he was a permanent victim of VillainDecay, each vow of new determination to avenge his slain allies or regain his honor only making the next beatdown even more painfully abrupt. But once he [[spoiler: joins Simon to save the Earth]] he demonstrates his masterful skill as a brilliant copilot whose sole handicap is his relative lack of Spiral energy. (And even that may be [[WMG/TengenToppaGurrenLagann debatable]], but either way, it's not that much of a handicap since [[spoiler:Simon]] has more than enough for the both of them.)
32	* Jeremiah in ''Anime/CodeGeass'' became more competent after his HeelFaceTurn. Of course, being [[WeCanRebuildHim upgraded]] to a bulletproof [[HollywoodCyborg cyborg]] helped...Also helping is the fact that "Zero" and "Orange" stop being a BerserkButton for him, and the revelation that Lelouch and Nunnally are alive gave him a chance to shed his FailureKnight status. Before his conversion, he was a broken man. Afterwards he had everything to fight for ... and was unexpectedly popular.
33	%% Administrivia/ZeroContextExample *''Anime/MobileSuitGundam00'' Same goes to his sort-of "successor", [[spoiler: Patrick Colasaur]].
34	* Justified in ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi'' with Evangeline. She starts out powerful enough to cause Negi and Asuna trouble. Turns out she wasn't fighting too hard. In all her later appearances she's just generally more powerful than she was before, beating down every hero the series has and one arc pulling a BigDamnHeroes and destroying a [[SealedEvilInACan Demon God]] (nearly) single-handedly. The reason is that the Thousand Master tricked her and [[PowerLimiter weakened her with a spell]], only when the spell is temporarily taken away does she have her full power, which made her one of the most feared mages.
35	* Dewey, a MookLieutenant in ''Manga/NurseAngelRirikaSOS'', starts as a legitimate threat but definitely saw diminishing returns on his capability up until his HeelFaceTurn. After joining the heroes he is consistently powerful and useful, and tends to use his abilities in more creative ways than he did as a villain.
36	* ''Anime/RoninWarriors'': Shuten Doji/Anubis becomes even more powerful after breaking free from Talpa's mind control [[spoiler:and even going on to take over the mantle of the Ancient One when the previous one died. As The Ancient One's successor he is far more effective in both direct combat as well as overall war maneuvering than he was as a dark warlord.]].
37	* ''Franchise/LyricalNanoha'':
38	** Fate Testarossa got stronger after her HeelFaceTurn (getting proper training from Chrono [[AllThereInTheManual in-between seasons]] helped). Same with Signum and Vita in ''Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaStrikers''. Also played straight in ''Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaStrikers''; when [[spoiler:Ginga Nakajima]] is brainwashed, she cannot use anything but her Inherent Skills.
39	** It's suggested in the manga that the Wolkenritter were holding back while fighting the heroes (possibly in order to not kill them), as each one has at least one ability they do not display until the final battle.
40	** One of the biggest promotions in the franchise would be Nove, who went from a villain who lost all of her battles in ''Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaStrikers'', to a hero who achieved the fastest [[DefeatMeansFriendship befriending]] in the franchise in ''Manga/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaVivid''.
41	** However, the most successful turn from inept villain to extremely powerful hero would be Lord Dearche from the ''VideoGame/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaAsPortable'' series. As an OmnicidalManiac villain, she was powerful on paper, but whenever she appeared, she had a tendency to get beaten almost immediately by whatever good guy is in the vicinity, may they be an in-training Hayate or a lowly Guardian Beast such as Zafira, and ended up getting [[FightingAShadow killed multiple times]] over the course of a single night. As a reluctant hero, however, [[spoiler:she saved TheMultiverse ''and'' the out of control WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds that was beyond anything the cast had faced so far, reversed the natural death of a planet, received the nigh-unlimited power she had always dreamed of, and gained a planet that accepted and [[UniversallyBelovedLeader loved her as their king]]]].
42	* Yusuke comments on this fact in ''Manga/YuYuHakusho'', talking about how Hiei is doing a lot better fighting for him than when he used to fight against him.
43	** The key difference is that the victory-or-death scenarios he faces with Yusuke force him to do desperate things to reinvent himself. He gains massive power by mastering the Dragon of the Darkness Flame, which most demons would never even attempt because it's just as likely to kill them as their opponents. Plus, when he fought Yusuke, Hiei was still weakened by [[spoiler:the operation to implant his [[ThirdEye Jagan]]]]. By the end of the series, he's fully recovered.
44	** Several of Team Urameshi's old opponents from the Dark Tournament (Chu, Rinku, Jin, Toya, Suzuki, Shishiwakamaru) ally with Kurama and undergo TrainingFromHell, becoming almost as powerful as Kurama himself.
45	* Ken Ichijouji from ''Anime/DigimonAdventure02''. As the Digimon Emperor, he was a petulant SmugSnake who frequently had his plans defeated by the Digidestined and was curb-stomped by T.K. After his HeelFaceTurn, he was able to digivolve Wormmon into Stingmon and was able to DNA digivolve Stingmon with Davis's [=ExVeemon=], with the two being the only ones on the team to achieve mega form. Ken also got to seal away Daemon.
46	* Impmon/Beelzemon from ''Anime/DigimonTamers''. A pseudo-DealWithTheDevil let him go from a non-threat to a KnightOfCerebus in a single jump, only to be taken down hard once he crossed the line by [[spoiler: [[SacrificialLion killing Leomon]]]]. Making amends with the human partners he ran away from boosted him to a SuperMode beyond his original Mega form, with a HandCannon and a spiffy set of wings to boot.
47	-->"[[PowerOfLove I've never felt this kind of power before...!]]"
48	* In ''Anime/GundamBuildDivers'' after Ayame joins Force Build Divers following her time as TheMole, she modified her RX-Zeromaru with new parts and new weapons. And just like [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamUnicorn the Mobile Suit her Gunpla is based on]], it starts using brand new abilities as well.
49	* Gaara from ''Manga/{{Naruto}}''. When we see him as a villain, his fighting style revolved around him standing in one place while relying on his sand to defend him and attack his opponents. Come part II, Gaara is now the Kage of his village and his fighting style has become more versatile. He is more mobile in combat and he's strong enough to defeat his father and hold his own against [[OneManArmy Madara Uchiha]].
50	* Fairly literal example in ''Anime/SSSSGridman'': The PowerCopying Anti got exactly one victory over Gridman before VillainDecay hit. Come episode 10, he's been cast aside by his creator. Then, when the Kaiju Nanashi decimates Gridman, Anti steps in, evolves into Gridknight, and easily defeats Nanashi.
51	[[/folder]]
52
53	[[folder:Comic Books]]
54	* Both ''ComicBook/SuicideSquad'' and ''ComicBook/SecretSix'' did this for some formerly third-rate villains such as Catman, Deadshot, and Captain Boomerang. While not exactly redemption, they tended to be on the side closer to the angels than those they fought against.
55	[[/folder]]
56
57	[[folder:Fanfic]]
58	* [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic Nightmare Moon]] went down relatively easily. In ''[[http://www.fimfiction.net/story/2571/Magical-Pony-Lyrical-Twilight Magical Pony Lyrical Twilight]]'' Luna casually wipes out armies and is considered to be scarier than her SuperpoweredEvilSide by the ponies that beat Nightmare Moon. The sheer power at Luna's disposal is enough to freak out her allies.
59	* In the ''Fanfic/PonyPOVSeries'', Trixie is a lot stronger and more effective as the team's SixthRanger than as an antagonist. [[spoiler: She even turns out to be another Element of Magic, and during the Wedding Arc, she's able to fight a BrainwashedAndCrazy Twilight ''to a standstill''.]]
60	** In the [[BadFuture Dark World]], [[BrainwashedAndCrazy Twilight Tragedy]] was no slouch, but she lacked a lot of Twilight Sparkle's creativity, which is restored by her HeelFaceTurn. It's also possible that she's literally stronger now that she's using the purified Element of Chaos, rather than its corrupted form.
61	** Silver Spoon also gets this after pulling a HeelFaceTurn and becoming the Crusaders' SixthRanger, becoming a ''lot'' more cunning and effective than she was as a bully. Justified because she actually starts ''thinking'' for herself rather than letting Diamond do all the work. [[spoiler:Her determination is so great that it allows her to fend off an attempt by the now [[SuperpoweredEvilSide Nightmare Diamond Tiara]] to break her spirit and convince her she only exists to be a villain.]]
62	* Played with in ''Fanfic/ChildOfTheStorm''. While Loki is considerably more powerful post HeelFaceTurn, it's noted that this is more due to a strange case of GodsNeedPrayerBadly. While they don't require it to exist or even require outright worship, the more people know about them, the more of their power they can exert on the mortal plane. However, he does also note that he's far more capable and dangerous as a result of regaining his sanity.
63	* [[TheAtoner Tai Lung]] in the ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda'' Fanfic ''Fanfic/ADifferentLesson''. He still loses in battle often enough to justify needing Po and the Five as his allies, and he has issues with [[HotBlooded controlling]] [[FatalFlaw his temper]] and ([[PersonalityPowers not coincidentally]]) his [[ElementalPowers Fire chi]], but in all other respects he remains as powerful, incredible, and badass a fighter as he was when a villain. The fact he isn't maddened or enraged all the time (and has gotten over his FreudianExcuse) also allows him to actually make use of those thousand scrolls he learned, and use them cleverly and effectively. The Fire chi and [[spoiler:the Golden Spear]] also count as power-ups for him.
64	* ''Fanfic/DoofenshmirtzHeroIncorporated'': Much to his annoyance, Doofenshmirtz finds more success as a teacher to heroic schoolchildren than he does as a villain.
65	* {{Justified\|Trope}} in ''Fanfic/SonOfTheSannin'' with the Otogakure genin trio, Zaku, Kin and Dosu. While they were under Mizuki, he wasn't interested in teaching them anything. After they're taken prisoner by Konoha and placed under Anko's tutelage, she makes sure to train them properly ([[TrainingFromHell if to sadistically harsh levels]]), to the point they're able to defeat their former teacher when he's brought back as an Edo Tensei zombie (also helped by the fact that [[VillainForgotToLevelGrind he wasn't any stronger than when he was alive]]).
66	* The fanmade novelization ''Fanfic/TheMythOfLinkAndZeldaBreathOfTheWild'' integrates several characters from ''Videogame/HyruleWarriorsAgeOfCalamity'', including Astor, who retains his signature weapon, named the Malice Orb. Astor uses the Malice Orb to create malice constructs and cast essentially all of his battle spells. [[spoiler: When the Malice Orb is freed from the influence of Malice, it becomes the Sheikah Orb, which was its original state to begin with. It chooses Paya as its master, and grants her extensive powers beyond those that Astor used, including summoning monsters from across time, portal creation, and even the power to repair damage by reversing the flow of time on it.]]
67	* {{Justified\|Trope}} in ''Fanfic/StormwolfAdventures''. The fatal weakness of [[spoiler:Rey]] is that she doesn't trust her friends, which allows her to be manipulated and the protagonists to catch up to her. Once she learns to trust her friends, she becomes far more effective.
68	[[/folder]]
69
70	[[folder:Films -- Animated]]
71	* Proves to be the case for the titular character of ''WesternAnimation/{{Megamind}}'': he was a clown and an overdramatic petty nuisance as a villain, but turns out to be surprisingly competent (and still overdramatic) once he finds a reason to fight for the good side.
72	[[/folder]]
73
74	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
75	* Most versions of ''[[Film/Godzilla1954 Godzilla]]'' are far more powerful and dangerous when fighting for humanity and the Earth than the ones who fight against us. Special mention should go to the second Showa-era Godzilla -- in his first few movies, he was beaten back by either the military or another benevolent monster like Mothra. After his HeelFaceTurn, he was able to take down two monsters at once, some of whom were more powerful than himself, gained allies as dangerous as he was, and gained a few new superpowers. [[JustifiedTrope Possibly justified]], since the antagonistic ones are often shown to be a TragicMonster who are oftentimes in agony while they rampage, thus limiting their effectiveness as combatants
76	* ''Franchise/StarWars'':
77	** {{Inverted\|Trope}} with Anakin Skywalker who, after [[spoiler:becoming Darth Vader]], believes that his FaceHeelTurn and physical disabilities allow him to focus more on honing his skills and channelling his emotions into actions as well as enhancing its connection to the Force. It is worth noting that even Darth Sidious, who is rarely fazed by anything, is sometimes genuinely impressed by his prowess.
78	** Ben Solo becomes a much better fighter once he [[spoiler:gives up his identity as Kylo Ren]] and returns to the Light Side of the Force, soloing his former comrades, [[spoiler:the Knights of Ren,]] in less than 20 seconds. [[JustifiedTrope It makes sense]] considering he is no longer shackled by his feelings of fear and inadequacy.
79	** Finn was just another Stormtrooper before his defection. Then he wounds a trained Force User, kills his former captain who had trained him, and [[spoiler:learns the Force and as a general helps take down the Final Order, not being wounded at all despite being in the front lines against improved versions of what he once was.]]
80	* Dozens of characters in ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'' have the backstory of "served in some branch of the Imperial military," most famously Han Solo and Biggs Darklighter. Despite being literal graduates of the ImperialStormtrooperMarksmanshipAcademy, these characters are almost always treated as incredibly skilled in their field. Some, like Dengar, even hold onto their [[ArmorIsUseless old armor,]] which is now actually protective. This is usually agreed to be because the Empire's training is actually good, and the problems are more with morale, equipment, and strategy.
81	* M'baku in ''Film/BlackPanther2018'' begins as an adversary of T'challa who challenges him for the throne. After losing their duel and being spared he later aids T'challa in stopping Killmonger. This leads to him becoming the first Jabari chieftain to sit on the ruling council in Wakanda's history.
82	[[/folder]]
83
84	[[folder:Literature]]
85	* ''Literature/ACertainMagicalIndex'' has Shiage Hamazura. As a villain, he's barely able to keep his gang under control and fails a mission to kill Misuzu (a normal person with no fighting skills to speak of). After making a HeelFaceTurn and becoming one of the series' heroes, he manages to [[spoiler:defeat a [[PersonOfMassDestruction Level 5 esper]], on three separate occasions]].
86	[[/folder]]
87
88	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
89	* ''Series/GameOfThrones'': Kneeling and accepting Daenerys caused Qhono to go from a lowly bloodrider to one of the main generals in Daenerys's army.
90	* Played straight in ''Series/{{Heroes}}'' with [[spoiler:Noah]] Bennet, aka HRG. After his HeelFaceTurn he STILL keeps a serious amount of competency and shrewdness. [[spoiler: Taking down an angry lunatic in midair, taking out and torturing an electric hurling assassin, killing his mentor in cold blood, and utterly owning the annoying manager of the copy store where he worked.]] The only noted exception being with the activities of his teenage daughter but in his defense, is there ANY TV dad who is competent in that regard?
91	* Sheriff Roscoe from ''Series/TheDukesOfHazzard'' would occasionally show more cleverness than usual when he was striving for a noble goal, such as tricking Enos into a prison cell in order to stop him from doing something that would get him fired. It's even mentioned several times in the series that he used to be the best sheriff in the state before he started working for Boss Hogg and became the bumbler that he is.
92	* When ''Franchise/StarTrek'''s Klingons are on the side of the Federation they are (during the ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' era)? [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy kick-ass combatants]] who might be a bit brutal but not someone to trifle with, with high military competence and strategic and tactical skills. Klingons facing the Federation? Idiotic twits who have the tactical sophistication of a bull in a china shop. Chancellor Gowron is a perfect example, losing all of his former cunning and becoming a total ego-case whenever he goes against the Federation.
93	* Sergeant Schultz in ''Series/HogansHeroes'' tended to be more competent when he was working with the Heroes than with the other Germans (whom he was employed by). {{Dismotivation}} was implied to be a factor; his witnessing of the Heroes' plots in progress resulted in him saying "[[IllPretendIDidntHearThat I see NUZZING!]]" because he knew how much trouble the Heroes could cause him.
94	* ''Series/BakuryuuSentaiAbaranger'' has a surprising example with [[SixthRanger [=AbareKiller=]]]. While a SixthRanger in ''Franchise/SuperSentai'' who starts off a villain is typically subject to a RedemptionDemotion, [=AbareKiller=] had gone through a period of VillainDecay thanks to his suit starting to breakdown. Once he joined the heroes, he TookALevelInBadass.
95	** ''Series/MahouSentaiMagiranger'' has Wolzard. While he was certainly a threat as a villain, [[VillainForgotToLevelGrind due to the heroes getting stronger he gradually possed less of a threat.]] As it turns out he was a FallenHero, and being [[BrainwashedAndCrazy corrupted into a villain]] by the series made him weaker, because his true identity Isamu Ozu/Heavenly Saint Bragel was '''FAR''' more powerful, single-handedly [[CurbStompBattle curb stomping]] enemies who the show's titular heroes lost against.
96	[[/folder]]
97
98	[[folder:Pro Wrestling]]
99	* Happens a lot in ProfessionalWrestling. Standard booking is that the faces have to win matches cleanly and only lose due to cheating in order to keep the fans' support and sympathy while heels almost never win cleanly so the fans want to see them get beaten. Mix the two with a HeelFaceTurn and you have this.
100	* [[Wrestling/{{Christian}} Christian Cage]] is probably the ultimate example of this trope. After turning his back on the fans he simply got more and more pathetic, and boring to the point in 2003 it seemed like he couldn't win a match clean if his life depended on it, even against 150-pound Spike Dudley. After returning to ECW many new fans were shocked to see he could actually escape from an armbar and with the crowds behind him tag teams have to cheat to beat Christian in two on one matches.
101	* As a face, Wrestling/{{Edge\|Wrestler}} (Christian's Kayfabe brother, or at least he used to be before the WWE stopped acknowledging that old storyline) did some pretty impressive stuff, including facing Wrestling/{{Kane}} with a broken arm and winning. As a heel, his gimmick is that he's a sneaky cowardly bastard who wins most of his matches by being "the ultimate opportunist".
102	* Alex Riley may be the best example of this trope. As Wrestling/TheMiz's apprentice, he was of little competence except when he needed to take a beating in lieu of his teacher. Once Miz lost the title, he began to berate his protege until he lost one rematch too many and he fired Riley in the ring. [[TheDogBitesBack Riley would turn on his former leader]] and immediately gain newfound in-ring competence as he would defeat Miz several times and find himself in almost immediate title contention despite being portrayed as a mere rookie months earlier on NXT.
103	* Wrestling/{{Sheamus}} is another fine example. He had been suffering from ''severe'' BadassDecay for months and was DemotedToExtra. Then Wrestling/MarkHenry goes on the warpath, destroying everything in his path to the point everyone was afraid to face him. Sheamus steps up to the plate to challenge him ''fearless'', performing a HeelFaceTurn in the process. Cue Sheamus being the first one to defeat the Great Khali in recent months by ''forcing his way out of the Khali Vicegrip with sheer brute strength!''
104	[[/folder]]
105
106	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
107	* Ambuscade from ''TabletopGame/SentinelsOfTheMultiverse'' went up and down in competence and effectiveness lore-wise, but gameplay-wise he's a bit of a joke and is considered a great starter villain for new players. But as the hero Stuntman he is ''much'' more powerful, able to pull off insane out-of-turn combos with massive damage output in the right hands.
108	** The same goes for Baron Blade, who was literally ''designed'' to be a starter villain, and in each of his subsequent appearances in the card game, he uses less and less tech. But as the temporary hero Luminary, he pulls out all the stops with a ton of robots, devices, and a frikken ''space laser!'' He even finally gets to drop the moon (at least, a piece of it) onto the earth.
109	[[/folder]]
110
111	[[folder:Video Games]]
112	* After you beat the corrupted and possessed Malevolynx in ''VideoGame/DragonQuestMonstersJoker2'', he will fight you again in his true form, Leonyx, to see if you're strong enough to face the source of the island's corruption. He's much stronger than before and keeps his improved stats (except for HP) if you manage to Scout him.
113	* In ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'', Johnny Sasaki was a PunchClockVillain, ineffective and nearly too dumb to live. By [=MGS4,=] he has switched sides because of the PowerOfLove but is still ineffective... until the mid-game, where he begins to take several levels of Badass. By the end of the saga, the ButtMonkey PunchClockVillain has become a super sexy BigDamnHero BadassNormal who gets the girl and the happy ending.
114	* ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'': This happens with Bowser in a few games. Usually, this is because the player can control him so he doesn't [[VideoGame/SuperMarioBros1 get tricked into stuff]] [[VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBros like jumping]] [[VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBrosWii to let enemies pass]], [[VideoGame/SuperMarioBros3 smashing through the floor into a]] BottomlessPit, [[VideoGame/SuperMario64 charging at an enemy known for jumping ability]] that would let him grab his tail and throw him into a bomb, etc.
115	** And nowhere is this more true than in ''[[VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiBowsersInsideStory Bowser's Inside Story]]''. Though he often gets power boosts from Mario and Luigi inside his body, the game ends with him not only [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu punching out a manifestation of pure evil]] [[spoiler:[[EvilKnockoff that's taken his form]]]], he ''completely outclasses it'' in punching, breathing fire, rolling around as a spiked ball, throwing minions, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking inhaling]]. The Bros.' only role in the fight is stopping its HealingFactor (which, granted, is a boss fight of its own).
116	* In ''VideoGame/PaperMarioTheThousandYearDoor''. When Vivian joins your party, she is actually ''stronger'' than she was in the fight against her and the other Shadow Sirens much earlier in the game. In fact, if you fully upgrade her stats, she will be equal in strength to her ex-fellow siren Beldam during the rematch at the end of the game.
117	** She doesn't play it completely straight, though. When she turns, she has to relearn her Fiery Jinx spell by leveling up - though when she does relearn it, it's still several times stronger.
118	** Possibly justified in that she was unhappy working with her sisters, and thus never fought at full strength along with her sisters because she didn't have any emotion behind it. When she joins Mario, she feels relieved and is able to work better now that she has a reason.
119	* In ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsOriginalGeneration 2'', PunchClockVillain Arado Balanga had stats worse than your average mook when he fights you, but instantly becomes much more capable after he joins you. This is especially notable because, back when he was part of the enemy's forces, he kept getting forced into the usual mook fare, the Lion, which is a [[FragileSpeedster light-framed aerial mecha outfitted for long-range combat]]. At your side, he gets assigned to more melee-oriented machines like the R-Blade and, eventually, his own signature mech Wildwurger, which really brings out his LightningBruiser capabilities due to, above anything, thicker armor plates that his previous mecha couldn't have.
120	** In the ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsAlpha'' games, as villains [[Anime/VoltesV Prince Heinel]] and [[Anime/{{Daimos}} Prince Richter]] are at best difficult mid-bosses but still pawns of the Balmarians and [[Anime/{{Gaiking}} Dark Horror Army]] respectively. As heroes, they are freedom-fighting symbols of revolution, risk their lives -[[HeroicSacrifice and eventually lose them]]- for others, and even assist the Alpha Numbers against both [[PhysicalGod Irui Ganeden]] and [[EldritchAbomination Keisar Ephes]], albeit the second time in [[NotTooDeadToSaveTheDay spirit form]].
121	* In ''VideoGame/HalfLife1'', where the Vortigaunts are enemies, they're low-to-mid-range opponents who aren't too much to worry about. By ''VideoGame/HalfLife2'', where they're on your side, they're more powerful combatants and have also gained almost mystical healing and mechanical abilities. This may have something to do with [[RestrainingBolt the slave collars]] they were wearing as enemies, however. Combat-wise, the average Vortigaunt in ''Half-Life 2'' is about on par with one from ''VideoGame/HalfLife 1'' on hard mode... but even then, the ''Half-Life 2'' ones have more health and healing abilities.
122	** By ''Half-Life 2: Episode 1'', Vortigaunts are shown to be powerful enough to [[spoiler: oppose the god-like power of the G-Man himself]] and by ''Episode 2'' they're [[spoiler: resurrecting the dead and (it's implied) battling the insanely powerful Combine Advisors]], so their HeelFaceTurn has potentially upgraded them from cannon fodder to something that, collectively, potentially approaches KingOfAllCosmos.
123	*** [[JustifiedTrope By way of explanation]], the Vorts' more godlike powers are fueled by an extract which they procure from antlions. Presumably, their former masters took no interest in their animal husbandry.
124	** The vorts met in the Victory Mine who help you fight the Antlions are often cited as one of the best demonstrations of this trope. These three badasses slaughter an entire army of Antlions (who trained soldiers have trouble containing) with ease, while Vorts in the first game were fodder to organized groups of marines. However, it is often forgotten that these three were just particularly powerful vorts, which isn't something unique to ''Half-Life 2''. In the [=PS2=] only ''Decay'' expansion, when they were still bad guys, a bonus mission has a pair of Vorts being sent to retrieve a stolen Xen crystal. The two slaughter an entire platoon of marines on the way.
125	** ''VideoGame/BlackMesa'' somewhat turns down the severity of this by drastically decreasing the time it takes for a Vortigaunts to charge a blast, and doubling their health. This makes them seem more like the ones encountered in ''Half-Life 2''; basically, they made the hard mode Vorts from the original game the standard here.
126	* ''VideoGame/LunarLux'': The Murk Slayer as a boss has four attack patterns, but [[spoiler:as a playable character, he has those four attacks along with many other skills. He also benefits from all the Upgrade Chips the player has equipped and can use any support skill that isn't specifically tied to Bella's weapon or Lunex Force. Finally, he becomes more willing to use his Phase Form to give him three turns of double damage]].
127	* Not exactly "evil" so much as doing his job, in ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneyJusticeForAll'' when Detective Gumshoe [[spoiler:is fired]] and helps Phoenix briefly, he shows shades of significant competence.
128	** Gumshoe's competence skyrockets any time he's asked to do something that isn't detective work. He can get a bridge built on a mountain in the dead of winter overnight, build complex, perfectly functioning gadgets out of junk, fight off a gang of mob goons barehanded and ''always'' bring that vital evidence to the courtroom in time. But notice basic logical discrepancies? Not a chance.
129	* In the remake of the original ''[[VideoGame/WildArms1 Wild ARMs]]'', Zed, the HarmlessVillain so lame he couldn't even make it into the QuirkyMiniBossSquad, is a recruitable secret bonus character who's actually a pretty good fighter once he's on your side. Lampshaded by dialogue indicating he finally has something worth fighting for (the little blind girl he ended up adopting) rather than simply just fighting to prove himself.
130	* In ''VideoGame/StarWarsBattlefront'', whatever faction you are using, the player is a ''lot'' smarter than the AI. So you could be fighting against utterly ineffective clone troopers one battle, then the next be using a hyper-competent one.
131	** Though inverted at the same time, since the AI is a little smarter for your enemies than your allies...
132	* In ''Franchise/FireEmblem'' pretty much any enemy joins you exactly as they were... meaning you can level them and make them far more powerful than they were before, tearing through legions of their companions.
133	* Odie in ''VideoGame/SoulNomadAndTheWorldEaters''. When he's a Heel, he's no more than a dimwitted, incompetent bandit mage GoldFishPoopGang. When he switches sides, he still has the same stats he had as a boss, making him a very strong mage, and is no longer subject to the idiotic Ai and squad formations. Oddly he's still treated as a loser by everyone for most of the game but has a flash of competency near the end. In the [[spoiler:Demon Campaign]], events force him to stop screwing around and work for good, where he actually shows himself as a very competent mage, even impressing his younger brother Dio, a legendary mage.
134	* In ''VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite'', although not villains, the Gym Leaders are at least boss battles, and when they come to help you at the end as you go up to beat N, this is in full effect. The Gym Leaders are capable of beating up six of the Seven Sages while you go to deal with N/Ghetsis, despite the fact that most of them shouldn't be able to beat the wild Pokémon hanging around outside.
135	** A {{fanon}} justification is that they have several sets of Franchise/{{Pokemon}} that are level-scaled to the challengers, and bring out heavy-duty sets for the Seven Sages fight. Hence why veteran trainer Ash, whose Pikachu alone should be able to curbstomp every damn thing by the latest anime season and regularly turns the ElementalRockPaperScissors into a pretzel, struggles against gym leaders who have Pokémon weaker than level 20 in the games. This also neatly explains the roughly ten-level drop in difficulty of the Indigo/Johto Elite Four between ''VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue'' and ''VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver'', [[AdultsAreUseless although not why they don't summarily flatten the criminal gangs' attacks on their towns before the player gets there]].
136	* Averted in ''VideoGame/LiveALive''. Any time you have to fight a playable character, they have the exact same HP, stats, equipment, and attacks they have when they're playable.
137	* Olaf in the original ''VideoGame/AdvanceWars'' was the StarterVillain - a blithering idiot of a GeneralFailure who was practically babysat by Grit, on top of being pathetically weak with a lame power. In ''Advance Wars 2'', where he's a good guy, he comes off as far more competent and intelligent, and racks up a number of victories over the run of the campaign, with the few mistakes he does make being credited more to his rash personality. He even got a buff, with his blizzard powers going from a mild nuisance to downright debilitating.
138	** Kanbei was always very good in game terms, but in the first game, he was an UpperClassTwit and a GeneralFailure even worse than Olaf. In the second game, he becomes a lot cleverer and wiser; though he's still headstrong and honor-bound, and often asks his TeenGenius daughter for advice, he no longer builds factories on isolated islands.
139	* In ''VideoGame/MiddleEarthShadowOfWar'', if you attach a Wealth Gem to the New Ring after you reclaim it, Orc captains will automatically gain 1-5 levels after you dominate and recruit them.
140	* ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'' has Rider serve as an antagonist in the first two routes. In the ''Fate'' route, she is a StarterVillain, and in the ''Unlimited Blade Works'' route, she dies off-screen. The ''Heaven's Feel'' route has Rider become an ally where she proves far more effective [[spoiler: and even manages to survive the end of the route.]] This is justified in-universe by Rider being held by having a weak Master in the first two routes when she has a much stronger master in the ''Heaven's Feel'' route she showed how strong she really was.
141	* ''VideoGame/KirbySuperStar'': The Helpers are all playable variants of basic enemies, most of which go down in one or two hits and only have a few attacks. As allies, they have as much HP as Kirby himself, a full list of powerful moves, and can DoubleJump infinitely.
142	[[/folder]]
143
144	[[folder:Webcomics]]
145	* Subverted in ''Webcomic/AbeKroenen'', in which Rasputin turns out to be just as horribly inept at being a good guy as he is at being a bad one.
146	* Happens in ''Webcomic/KidRadd''. The villains go from being humorously incompetent to downright deadly once they switch sides.
147	* ''Webcomic/{{Shadowgirls}}'' got a borderline case -- [[spoiler:Chrissy]] behaving like a [[RichBitch spoiled brat]] didn't win verbal confrontations and in physical ones faced only the opponents either weak enough or strong enough to make it one-sided. Once she did decide [[PayEvilUntoEvil to bring misery upon those who deserved it]], she gets to ''butcher'' a Bad Guy too powerful to expect this and [[http://www.shadowgirlscomic.com/comics/health-care-2/ uses her Mad Bitchy Skillz]] for a truly {{jaw drop}}ping show.
148	[[/folder]]
149
150	[[folder:Western Animation]]
151	* ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'':
152	** In the episode when Dr. Draken becomes good, and Ron becomes evil. The goofy sidekick is actually quite intimidating as an evil villain, while the HarmlessVillain seems a pretty decent good guy.
153	** Drakken was also pretty damn competent at running a company when he acquired the cupcake business. Shame about the low-carb craze.
154	** Also in the series finale (of the PostScriptSeason- that is, the real finale), Drakken, famous for his terrible plans to rule the world, comes up with a successful one to stop someone else from doing the same.
155	** That wasn't the first time Drakken got a sudden competence boost when opposing other villains. In fact, Drakken is actually ''more'' competent at being good than he is at evil. The only time he ever subverted this trope was in ''WesternAnimation/KimPossibleMovieSoTheDrama''. [[TheDragon Shego]], on the other hand, seems to be held ''back'' by Drakken. It's been proven in "A Sitch In Time" that if Shego had ever bothered to break out on her own (and provided that Kim wasn't standing in her way), she would have conquered the world ''ages'' ago. However, Shego doesn't possess the drive nor creativity to actually come up with evil plans (with A Sitch In Time being the result of a StableTimeLoop.) She conquered the world because she got the plan and time travel artifact from her future self. She prefers to lounge around and relax while indulging in fights with Kim. Fascinatingly enough, this makes her similar to Ron Stoppable, her fellow sidekick.
156	* ''WesternAnimation/JackieChanAdventures'':
157	** There's an example of the permanent switch in Tohru, who was already pretty effective before he switched, and then learned magic and upped his success rate.
158	** It also had [[QuirkyMinibossSquad Finn]], [[HarmlessVillain Ratso]] [[TerribleTrio and Chow]] turn good in one episode, and do pretty well at being good guys... until their greed gets the better of them. In the end, they accidentally make a HeroicSacrifice which, in a parody of RedemptionEqualsDeath, leaves them stranded on a cliff halfway down a mountain.
159	* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'':
160	** Zuko is arguably more effective when doing good deeds or acting on the behalf of the heroes (initially to serve his own ends), usually under the [[SecretIdentity guise of the Blue Spirit]]. When he makes a full HeelFaceTurn, he briefly [[RedemptionDemotion loses all of his powers]], but afterwards he becomes even more powerful by learning the TRUE version of Fire Bending and regaining a better sense of purpose.
161	** Although Iroh was always very competent, his siege of Ba Sing Se on the Fire Nation's behalf was a failure that derailed his career, taking six hundred days to penetrate the outer wall shortly before retreating. About a decade later, Iroh leads the Order of the White Lotus to retake Ba Sing Se ''from'' the Fire Nation, and succeeds in ''hours''. He even begins by ''blowing the wall down himself'' (though he had [[MagicMeteor Sozin's Comet]] to thank for that).
162	* Subverted in ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls1998'' when Mojo Jojo shows power he never had before when [[CooperationGambit he teams with the Girls to beat down an alien bent on the destruction of Townsville]]. This isn't because he found good inside himself, but because [[EvilerThanThou the girls said they found something more evil than him]].
163	* Zim, from ''WesternAnimation/InvaderZim''. His job is to conquer humanity, but around a third of the time, his own incompetence screws him over (the other two-thirds being GIR's incompetence and Dib stopping Zim.) However, he's quite good at defending humanity.
164	* Sunset Shimmer from the ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirls'' films and specials. She was widely considered by the fanbase to be one of the weaker villains of [=MLP=] G4, having debuted as the BigBad of the first film, but shows herself to be a very competent heroine following her [[HeelFaceTurn Heel-Face Turn]], being the main reason why the far more dangerous villains in the subsequent two movies are defeated.
165	* When Carl the Cockroach wizard allies with [[WesternAnimation/YinYangYo Yin and Yang]], he is incredibly competent, namely against the Night Master. This is namely because Carl's weakness is psychological; he has horrible self-esteem, so the insults that the sibling throw his way whenever they fight him completely throw him off his game. Presumably, the villains aren't good enough at insults to exploit this (or perhaps their insults aren't as good.) He also helps them thwart Eradicus' plan of turning everyone evil through evil coffee, all while being in disguise and thus relying less on his powers.
166	* Occurs at various points in ''WesternAnimation/XMenEvolution'' with the Brotherhood, who tend to be less than intimidating when they're playing antagonists. But whenever they need to team up, they all get a nice promotion- even Toad, the series' resident smart-assed coward, was able to help out against Magneto and an evolved Sabretooth. Their best moment as a team may be the series finale, where they arrive late to cover Kitty Pryde's team after they've been wiped by an upgraded Magneto (mind-controlled by Apocalypse), and manage to hold their own against him without losing a single member (with the other teams fighting Apocalypse's horsemen all suffering some defeats).
167	* ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars'' only briefly shows Dinobot with the Predacons before he switches sides, but what happens in that time is a little embarrassing: He mouths off to Megatron, gets told off, and is blasted over the horizon by Scorponok (who would ''never'' pack that kind of punch again). It's probably for the best that he finds himself with the Maximals sooner rather than later, then, as he has a much better track record on his new team, culminating in [[spoiler:a HeroicSacrifice fighting ''all'' the Predacons by himself.]]
168	* [[BigBad Skeletor]] from ''WesternAnimation/HeManAndTheMastersOfTheUniverse'', while definitely no slouch as a villain, proved to have magical power on par with ''[[BigGood The Sorceress]]'' when he teams up with her and He Man to take down Evil Seed. They even offer him a spot with the good guys in spite of all he's done in favor of just how much they could accomplish by pooling their powers for good, but unfortunately to Skeletor [[EvilFeelsGood evil just feels way too good]].
169	* Jinx from ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' was your standard QuirkyMinibossSquad villainess, usually serving as Raven's opponent. After her HeelFaceTurn due to lack of respect from her villainous peers and the kindness of Kid Flash, she effortlessly beats not only her old team but her former idol Madame Rouge, a villainess who was previously nigh-unstoppable by even the more powerful Titans.
170	* The Monarch in ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'' tends to sinewave between IneffectualSympatheticVillain and NotSoHarmlessVillain when fighting Dr. Venture, possessing reasonable skill and considerable resources but not able to leverage either due to his VillainBall and the efforts of [[OneManArmy Brock Samson]] and [[GadgeteerGenius Sergeant Hatred]], and mostly being carried by his two {{Hypercompetent Sidekick}}s. Whenever he's fighting other villains, though, whether through EnemyMine, EvilVersusEvil, or [[spoiler:his heroic identity as the Blue Morpho]], he becomes frightfully effective, thanks to his will and mercilessness being employed against an opponent not protected by ContractualGenreBlindness.
171	* Cedric the Sorcerer/Sensational/[[spoiler:Great]] from ''WesternAnimation/SofiaTheFirst'' was about as pathetic as one would expect a villain in a preschool show to be, often failing to account for glaring mistakes in his evil schemes. He's also an embarrassment as the royal sorcerer of Enchancia, due to his enormous PerformanceAnxiety. Once he turns to the side of good starting from Season 4 however, he's able to focus his skill on proving himself a worthy ally to the royal family, and his contribution is invaluable in the SeriesFinale [[spoiler:when he helps to free Sofia from the Amulet of Avalor.]]
172	** Miss Nettle was the disgruntled and fame-hungry apprentice to the [[WesternAnimation/SleepingBeauty Three Good Fairies]] but had no success in defeating them or Sofia. But once Sofia directs her to use her gift with enchanted gardening to actually help others, she sees for herself how much joy her plants bring to people, and turns over a new leaf. By "Ivy's True Colors," she's even trusted to find a cure for a sleeping curse randomly affecting the animals.
173	* ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales2017'': Flintheart Glomgold is tedious to deal with, but his ego and ComplexityAddiction mean he's never hard to defeat. At one point, he literally loses his entire fortune to a ''child'' ([[spoiler:Louie]]). But when it comes time to challenge the Moonlanders, those same factors work in his favor because the entire invasion is set up to stymie Scrooge's efforts. Glomgold is such a different type of opponent, his scheme serves as ConfusionFu, and he's a large factor in the ultimate victory.
174	* ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'' has Heinz Doofenshmirtz, a [[HarmlessVillain hilariously inept]] MadScientist whose plans barely pose a threat and would typically be an annoyance at best even if his ArchEnemy didn't stop him. When he actually tries to do good, while still an idiot, he is far more successful helping.
175	* ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor'': The Delightful Children only pose a remote threat to Sector V or other KND members with henchmen or a mech of some kind. If they have to face anyone hand to hand, it's a CurbStompBattle against them. In the MadeForTVMovie, ''WesternAnimation/OperationZERO'', when they are [[spoiler:restored to their true selves as Sector Z]], they manage to defeat a zombified Sector V with very little effort.
176	[[/folder]]

Context Main / RedemptionPromotion